Five people were killed and eight injured when a private bus in which they were travelling fell into Beas river on the Mandi-Kullu national highway in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday morning, police sources said.

Four bodies were recovered from the river while one person died in a hospital in Mandi where the injured were being treated, the sources said.

About 10 passengers were missing, they added.

The bus, which was going from Mandi to Kullu, rolled down near Hanogi temple and tore apart before falling into the river.

The bus was submerged in the river and the number of people trapped inside or washed away could not be ascertained, the sources said.